There Are No Dreams, No Memory Remains
by zerofour05
Summary: It was supposed to be simple after he escaped that damn laboratory. Bring Cloud back to Aerith, become a mercenary for hire, live life anew. Instead, he woke up without memory in some village, became acquainted with this totally cute and shy girl, and now he's trying to figure out what to do with his life. And why the hell is there a Mako reactor in the Land of Fire? ZackHina


**So this came up to me as an idea. I wanted to try it out, and see what happens. I guess this starts pre-Pain attack. That's about as much as I remember, anyways. Ah, so I considered to remove Naruto completely even though my guilty pleasure is reading NaruHina fanfiction, but I kind of wanted to see what I could do if I paired Zack with Hinata instead. I think it would be nice. Zack would be going from flower girl to wallflower instead. Hah! Anyways, shall we, go?**

The lifestream. Endless, and flowing, it consists of the essence of the Planet and all of the emotions, memories, and knowledge of the inhabitants on the planet. When put under stress, the lifestream tenses up in some places, and weakens in others, effectively ridding itself of its presence in certain parts of the world. This is what happened in the regions that will be known as the Elemental Nations.

Years of war and bloodshed have completely destroyed the influence of the lifestream in that entire continent. Without the lifestream to repair the damage done by humans, they have turned to other sources of nature to alleviate the damages: Chakra.

When Kaguya became the first person to wield chakra, she passed on the chakra to her sons, who in turn passed it on to the rest of the humans inhabiting the Planet. They believed that they can harness the power of chakra to restore the Planet's wounds left untreated from wars and bloodshed, and while some were able to do that, such as the use of Hashirama Senju's Wood Release to create the forests that would form the Village Hidden in the Leaves, others used chakra for their own selfish needs, such as the genocide of the Cetra, in which many were killed because of their connection to the lifestream, and only a handful remained.

As time passed, the influence of the Lifestream has weakened, and at the same time, Chakra became a more prominent natural force in the Planet. As a result, many people lost their connection with the Lifestream. Especially, when _it_ came down.

A meteor, unbeknownst to the humans, contained the specimen that would be known as JENOVA, crashed down onto the Planet, creating the North Crater in what is now the Land of Iron. A few hundred years later, the organism was discovered by the remaining Cetra, however what they've discovered was the downfall of their race, and potentially, the downfall of all life on the Planet as well.

The Cetra realised this, so in order to preserve the lives of the Planet's inhabitants, they quarantined themselves in with the alien specimen. So, they got close to it. Studied it. And to the rest of the world, the Cetra seemingly...vanished. The Cetra were gone, and the only people who had a connection with the Lifestream disappeared. At least, for now; this specimen was not going to be found until nearly two thousand years later, when many of the civilizations of the Planet begin to stabilize.

It is now Month XX, day XX, year XXXX. This story begins in the continent of the Elemental Nations, in the most industrialized country of the nine countries on it: the Land of Iron.

 **7777**

"My dreams...my honor...they're yours now…"

After handing him the handle of the giant sword, his hand dropped lifelessly, but his eyes still held a flicker of life. Sky blue eyes, filled with so much relaxation and peace, despite the bloody graveyard a small patch of the Midgar wastelands was turned into, stared back at drowsy, confused, sorrowful, but just as vibrant, sky blue eyes. Blurring and refocusing, he could only smile weakly as he once more caught the final image of his life. There he sat. Cloud Strife, his living legacy. Spiky, blonde hair, pale skin, a child's face, and a stolen SOLDIER first class costume. He had to admit, that the appearance looked rather well on him. Such a shame, he wouldn't be able to see Cloud grow into a fine, young man...even though he was already...what, twenty? Doesn't matter. Eyes closing, he decided to take one final breath, and he allowed himself to ease, but…

 _Boom!_

An echo, with a voice-like thunder, resounded through the area, followed by a sharp gasp, and the sound of heavy metal dropping to the ground. His eyes quickly opened, interrupting his peaceful transition into the Lifestream. ' _What...was that?'_ He did his best to look around, with what little energy he had left, but he felt a heavy weight on his stomach.

"C-Cloud...where…what…?"

His eyes focused on a figure that was in an awkward position. A Shinra Infantryman. His arm was positioned awkwardly, and his hand was connected with a gun pointed at his general direction. The gun, although no longer being fully grasped by the dead infantryman, was balancing on the base of the clip and the stock. ' _Was it him?'_

"Cloud, get off me…" He jested softly, trying to arouse the figure lying on his midsection, but to no avail. His legacy was dead. And tears began to slip from his face.

Quietly, but surely.

And a blackness overcame him; his will to live completely slipped from his grasp.

 **7777**

So this was where all of this...lightning-less thunder came from.

Kakashi Hatake was perplexed. Reports said there were no thunderstorms, yet the sound of thunder...a lot of thunder (and explosions) came from this area. Because of all of the explosion marks and destroyed landscape, it even gave off the impression that lightning had struck. He even looked up.

Nope, not a single cloud in the sky.

However, the scent of blood was thick. ' _Maybe a jutsu…?'_ Kakashi looked around warily, and from his position, further east was the unmistakable stain of blood, and that's where he headed. He stopped his movement when he saw the stain of blood, and the many, many bodies of, what looked to be, soldiers. Large gashes on the uniforms and their bodies, dismembered limbs, broken helmets, and destroyed machines all littered the, what should have been, empty wastes.

"So this was what happened…" Kakashi muttered softly to himself, and scanned the area once more, as he finally focused on a lone figure by the cliffside. He hesitated to move forward. He knew that he was entering the neutral boundary of the Land of Iron; a land in which all neighboring countries agreed to not trespass, nor invade. So he was hesitant to confront the figure. Besides, as neutral as the Land of Iron can get, their ninja may be hostile. But, he crept closer anyways.

Upon closer inspection, he was able to distinguish the figure's features. The figure was a he. He had blonde, spiky hair, had a small and skinny build, and he looked like a teenager. Probably about 15 or 16 right now. He wore a dark purple, sleeveless turtleneck (which was dark enough to be confused with black), along with matching, dark purple baggy sweatpants. Unlike the standard ninja who wore sandals, he wore black, heavy boots. He had armor on his shoulders and his chest, which was also confusing, because as a ninja, all of that armor could compromise his agility.

Silently, Kakashi watched. It seemed that, unlike the environment around the blonde, he was unscathed. No blood, no cuts, no slashes, no holes. Except for a bit of dirt caked on his hands and uniform. Otherwise, it seemed that he was left out of the party. The blonde was loomed over another figure, who donned the same attire as he, and he was sprawled on the ground by the cliffside. A giant, rectangular sword by his side. And a large pool of blood. Kakashi knew that the figure the blonde was looming over, seemed to have gone to the party in the blonde's stead.

He saw the nearly dead figure push the handle of the gigantic sword into the young man's hands.

' _Perhaps, he was a swordsman of the hidden mist…? That is a rather big sword…'_

 _Boom!_

His musings were cut short, as a thunderclap echoed through the wastes. Once again, there were no clouds in the sky. But he saw movement. A bloodied man, his face concealed by a blue, cracked helmet, was holding onto, what seemed to be, a small portable cannon. His grip on the object loosened, and he was lost into death. He refocused toward the figure, however, and noticed a growing patch of red amidst the dark purple cloth. The blonde was clutching his chest, before limping over lifelessly on top of the figure.

Kakashi knew something happened, so he needed to find out what happened. And perhaps, he may even be able to save the blonde. He looked a bit too young to die. And so, disregarding the quiet law, he dashed forward to the cliffside.

When he got there, he saw the blonde lifelessly leaning over the midsection of the one on the floor. It was too late.

"Cloud, get off me…" A voice softly spoke, and that startled the jounin, though he didn't show it. He got a better look of the second figure now. Long, spiky, black hair. An 'x' shaped scar on his cheek, and a young face. Kakashi was definitely older than him, and he, too, looked too young. But if he was still alive, then perhaps…

Yes, he'll do it. He can bring him back and get him healed. The blonde, however, will have to go. So Kakashi lifted the blonde's body off of the black haired one, and he placed the body next to the young man. Now, Kakashi was not a medic-nin, but he at least knew the basics. He inspected the many holes on the torso of the young man, and found metal lodged in the holes.

"This won't do…" Kakashi muttered, as he pulled out a kunai from his pouch, and he began to pick off the metal. Afterwards, he was able to heal the wounds a little bit.

"That should keep him alive until he gets to a hospital," Kakashi said, clapping his hands together in satisfaction of his work, and he looked toward the blonde. "Now for you…"

Kakashi deemed it immoral for one to pass without a burial, so he scanned the area and found a large boulder nearby. Channeling chakra into his arm, he summoned just enough electricity to destroy it. Gathering the rocks, he made quick work to covering the blonde's corpse.

"That should do it…" Kakashi muttered, and then he eyed the young man. Next to him, lay a rectangular, giant two handed broadsword. He knew that this was special. The handguard was plated with gold with intricate swirl designs. There were two holes on the blade, which was sectioned off from the rest of the blade, and near the handguards were engraved etchings. Kakashi knew that this was not a sword that one could just buy off the market. Perhaps, this belonged to a rogue mist-nin?

' _If that were the case, why was a rogue mist-nin at the border of Fire and Iron? Was he seeking refuge? Or perhaps...maybe he wanted to escape the Land of Iron. If this were the case, then this is our first contact with someone from this land!'_

Kakashi found that it was very difficult to consider lifting the giant broadsword, even with both hands, yet the young man was able to lift it toward the blonde with one hand.

Well, sealing can do the trick.

And with that, Kakashi pulled out a fresh scroll from his pouch, and unrolled it. With a simple hand sign, he was able to pocket the gigantic sword into the scroll, effectively ending that small problem.

With the scroll back where it came from, Kakashi lifted the unconscious young man onto his back with less difficulty than the sword. Once Kakashi was sure he was situated on his back, he made his way back home: to the Hidden Leaf Village.

 **7777**

 **And there it is. Now to update the other story. Obviously, I lied about my update pacings.**


End file.
